Boone Buries Vero Beach With Big 3rd-quarter Effort

February 18, 2000|By Andy Lee, Special to The Sentinel

Boone broke open a game that wasn't that close to begin with in the third quarter and continued its seasonlong roll with a 43-29 victory against Vero Beach on Thursday in a Class 6A girls high school regional playoff game at Boone High School.

The Braves, who led throughout the game, improved to 30-0. They came into the game ranked first in the Sentinel's Super 6 and looked every bit the part.

"I thought we were very inconsistent in the way we played tonight," said Boone Coach Misty Cox. "The way we played tonight will not win a state championship. It wasn't Vero Beach; it was us. We just weren't mentally there."

Senior Vanessa Randall led all scorers with 11 points. Joann Noriega had 10 points for the Indians (20-6).

"Boone has the best inside game of any team we've played this season," said Vero Beach Coach Ralph Hiller. "We came here only six-deep tonight, and so we had some players out of position. But give them credit; they're a quality team."

Boone sealed the victory in the third quarter by holding the Indians to a lone Nichole Davidson field goal.

Despite trailing by 11 points at the end of the first quarter, Vero Beach outhustled and outscored the Braves 11-6 in the second quarter to pull to 24-18 at the half.

"We had some down times in this game, but we did what we had to do," Randall said. "The state championship is the goal. We need it."

Randall, who had six points in the first quarter, was held scoreless in the second, and Noriega helped the Indians with two 3-pointers.